Bike Case Recommendation

ezellrh

As I'll be required to travel air anywhere I go to race a longer distance race for the next two years (stationed in Okinawa, Japan), the new sponsor discount on the Rooster Armored Bike Case caught my eye. 

1.  Any feedback from owners of this case?  I assume I'll need to get comfortable with breakdown/building the bike to a degree which I'm okay with if required.

2.  Any other good recommendations?  I've looked through the DC Rainmaker reviews and his case of choice isn't made anymore (I don't think).

For context, I'm willing to pony up decent money if required, but want quality for my investment.  I want a case (vice shipping via some postal service) because I'm more comfortable with the bike on a plane with me, not in the mail.  I mailed my bikes from home to me here on Okinawa and I honestly could have bought a quality carbon bike for what that cost me.  I'll be traveling internationally with my bike a couple times a years and from my growing depth of experience, foreign airline are much, much better about bags, service etc than the big American airlines.  Also, my current ride is a Felt B12.   Thanks for any feedback/advice people can provide.

Mike Roberts

Roy, I bought a Ruster several years ago after Delta charged me $350 to fly my old (big) bike case to an int'l race. Still pisses me off to date. With my old case, I had to remove seat, headset and wheels. And pay $350. Now I also have to remove pedals (simple) and the fork (slides right out). Difference is the "case" is now two suitcases, and they either go free or I pay for one extra suitcase (depends on the airline, your status and if you carry their CC). Still . . . far cry from $350. I get asked every time if it's a bike, and I just say it's wheels and a bag full of exercise gear. Both true. Have never paid extra. I like to fill the inside void of the bike bag with shoes, helmet, bottles, food and quite a bit of clothes (I bag them in grocery bags). Wetsuit and some more clothes in the wheel bag. The net result is I usually fly with two bike bags and a backback. The bike bag has wheels to roll it, and it works OK. Hard to put the wheel bag on the bike bag and roll them both with any grace or momentum. In the end, like all bike boxes/bags, it's still a pain to lug through an airport. But unlike my old box, I can easily fit these two bags in any taxi or compact rental car. Finally, the bag is not solid plastic, so it's not a safe. It's a bag with semi-rigid sides and ends, padding on the inside. Comes with tubing and straps for the frame and, once all together, I felt quite confident that nothing could dent or crack my bike. And after many trips with it, I've never had a scratch. Just my $0.02.

rlh2000

I traveled to JVC with a Scicon case I borrowed from a friend. It was great for ease of use- only have to take the wheels off! It also is super maneuverable, but there is not hiding that that beast is huge! Won't fit in a small trunk (could pull seats down and be fine) and there is no way you are not paying fees. For me flying Southwest where it is just $75, that was fine, but I imagine that when you can get charged for each leg of an international trip, a smaller case you can sneak by without fees would be much better.

Robert Sabo

I love my Scion case. No charge on qantas as it counted as one of two allotted bags. Easy to pack and repack. No way I want to mess with removing my fork.

GMAN 19030

The problem with the Ruster is there's a lot more disassembly required than most other cases, most notably the removal of the fork. That could vary from somewhat easy to very difficult depending on the bike and wrenching skills. I'm very savvy with a bike wrench and do almost all my own work on my bikes to include a gen 1 and gen 2 Trek Speed Concept 9-series that are arguably the hardest bikes to work on. There is no way I'd want to remove the fork on a 9-series SC, put it back on, remove it again, then put it back on again just to get it to fit in that case in the hopes that I can avoid bike fees for the airline (which is not a guarantee). It's a pain in the ass to remove the fork on that bike. YMMV.

The other issue with the Ruster is your wheels become separate pieces of baggage. So even if you get away with not paying the bike fee you're going to possibly pay for the wheels as extra baggage depending on how many other bags you have and your status with the airline. Certainly cheaper than the bike fee though.

If I were to buy a new bike case it would be the Scicon AeroTech Evolution. Their AeroComfort Triathlon case looks interesting but I really don't trust having my bars sticking out like that and I still do not trust a soft sided case.

Dino Sarti

Take a look at this one. I have taken to Hawaii and a friend used it to take his P3 all over South America. Neither of us had any issues.

http://pikapackworks.com

FYI - with soft cases pack only the bike and perhaps soft clothing. Never shoes, helmets or tools. Those things cause damage when forced against the frame. Like cracking a walnut in the hand using another walnut.

Paul Hough

I've had my pikapackworks since 2008; and it is a soft-sided workhorse that I've used over and over without incident. Last year I used it on 4 trips including 1 to Switzerland and paid a total of $325 in bike fees for the year...only picking up charges on domestic flights. My bag is still in good shape, but I've watched as new models have come out and was interested in the Ruster until I learned that you had to remove the fork. I'm with Bob on this and decided it was a non-starter for me since my race bike has integrated brakes in the fork. Even if you don't have those brakes, you are foreclosing future bike options as long as you have that case. And I also second Bob's comments about bag fees. Ruster's claims of bike bag savings are over stated due to this issue. My bag fees to Switzerland were $0. I used my backpack and the case...nothing else. If I had the Ruster on the trip I would have paid the second bag fee which is now nearly universal. For every other international trip, I've made it to Europe without charge and then had to pay about $150 coming back...sort of a crapshoot, but the Pika gives you an edge on that aspect that the big cases cannot hide from.

I concur with Dino on keeping crap out of the bag but I usually throw in my aluminum Lezyine travel pump and also a small fold-up luggage carrier with a bungee cord in case the lugging distance is more than 200 yards. I bubble wrap everything and again never had any damage. Typical packed weight is 35lbs.

I have been looking at the AeroComfort Triathlon , but can't figure why they wouldn't just loosen the bolts on the aerobar mounts so they can point down instead of straight out. But at least I could tow it lengthwise. With my luggage carrier, I tow my bag sideways which is an issue going through every door.